This article summarizes the agent cookies that we use for Pendo and what the Pendo agent uses these cookies for. This is relevant:
- For any customers using a Pendo agent version that's lower than 2.33.0.
- In fallback scenarios with a Pendo agent version that's higher than 2.33.0.
Note that the subscription key in any cookies listed in this article must match the API key listed in your install settings. You can find your install settings in Pendo by navigating to Settings > Subscription Settings, selecting your application, and then opening the Install Settings tab.
Cookies and local storage
There are two ways to store data on the client side in HTML: cookies and local storage. This data is typically information like user preferences and authentication tokens.
Cookies are small pieces of data that are sent from the server to the browser and stored in a text file. Cookies can expire or be deleted by the user or the browser. Cookies can also be blocked or restricted by the user's privacy settings or browser extensions.
Local storage is a feature of the HTML5 specification that, unlike cookies, doesn't send data to the server with every request and can persist across sessions and browser tabs. Local storage can store more data per domain than cookies without negatively affecting network performance or bandwidth usage. Local storage can also store complex data types, such as objects or arrays.
We use agent cookies for Pendo agent version 2.32.0 or lower. For Pendo agent versions higher than 2.32.0, we use local storage as standard and use cookies as a fallback when:
- Your browser doesn’t support local storage.
- Your browser's local storage is over quota.
- The agent is configured to use domain cookies, meaning that the values are intended to be used across different domains.
Pendo core (Analytics and Guides) customers
This section lists the cookies used for Pendo core customers and what the agent uses these cookies for. Pendo core customers are customers that use Pendo Analytics and Guides.
| Cookie | Expiration | Purpose | If disabled |
|---|---|---|---|
debug-enabled |
Session | Written and read when the following function is triggered: pendo.isDebuggingEnabled(). This gets and uses information from the cookie in several places, such as log.js, guides.js, and exports.js. |
– |
_pendo_meta.SUB_KEY_VALUE |
100 days | Written and read to store a hash of the current metadata so that Pendo can see when it's changed and update it. | – |
|
and
|
10 seconds | Written and read in the agent to keep guides from showing again after they've been dismissed. | Guides might show more than once. |
active-contexts |
100 days | Written and read in the agent based on what is and isn't logged in the console. | Pendo might have less control over what's logged in the console. |
_pendo_guides_blocked. SUB_KEY_VALUE |
30 minutes; increases to 4 hours if we don't detect an ad blocker. | Avoid guide errors when we detect the visitor has an ad blocker. | We send a request to check whether the visitor is running an ad-blocker more frequently. This can impact how long it takes to show a guide. |
_pendo_accountId. SUB_KEY_VALUE |
100 days | Identify and record the visitor's Account ID in Pendo. | The Account ID isn't recorded with events or xhr events until the visitor is identified again. This can cause issues with analytics and guide delivery. |
_pendo_visitorId. SUB_KEY_VALUE |
100 days | Identify and record the visitor information for use in analytics and guide delivery. | The Visitor ID isn't recorded on usage data or guide events until the visitor is identified again. |
_pendo_launcher-closed.SUB_KEY_VALUE |
10 days | Identify and record the visitor information for use in analytics and guide delivery. | In onboarding mode, the Pendo Launcher list doesn't auto-show. |
log-enabled |
Session | Record additional details for troubleshooting purposes. | – |
Pendo Feedback customers
This section lists the additional cookies used for Pendo Feedback customers and what the agent uses these cookies for as they relate to core customers.
| Cookie | Expiration | Purpose | If disabled |
|---|---|---|---|
_pendo_feedback_ping_sent. SUB_KEY_VALUE |
60 minutes | When a ping is successful, the agent writes information about the visitor, such as name and value. There is a 5 minute timer that checks whether the cookie is expired. If it is, we send another ping. | Pendo sends a ping every 5 minutes and with every page load. |
_pendo_feedback_ping_sent. SUB_KEY_VALUE |
None | The response of the ping includes a notification count. Pendo writes this to a cookie so that it persists across refreshes. It's deletcted when the user opens Feedback. | If the visitor refreshes the notification icon on the widget tab, it disappears until the next ping. |
_pendo_receptive_ping_sent. SUB_KEY_VALUE |
None | Same as above. Renamed to match the Pendo naming when Feedback, formerly known as Receptive, was acquired by Pendo. | If the visitor refreshes the notification icon on the widget tab, it disappears until the next ping. |